Star sprinter Battaash primed for Nunthorpe defence at York as Jim Crowley closes on 2,000 winners

Trainer Charlie Hills believes star sprinter Battaash is in the prime of his career as he prepares to defend his crown in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York this week.

The six-year-old is unbeaten this season, having landed the Group 1 Kings’ Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Group 2 King George Qatar Stakes at Goodwood last month.

Hills’ stable-star is the odds-on favourite to make it a hat-trick of wins and repeat his success in the race 12 months ago, when he put up one of the performances of the Flat season to triumph by almost four lengths.

Once an enigmatic character, prone to disappointing off days – including in the 2017 and 2018 renewals of the Nunthorpe – Hills’ stable star has developed into a more predictable horse and become the highest-rated sprinter on the planet.

“He seems in great shape,” Hills said. “He’s probably got to the stage of his career where sprinters are normally very good at six and we’re in that year. He seems to be enjoying his racing.

“In the past getting him to the start was always the most important thing and keeping him calm but, touch wood, this year he’s been really good he’s lobbed down to post twice now. He seems to be in routine now.”

Like Battaash, regular jockey Jim Crowley is enjoying a remarkable season as he closes on 2,000 career winners in British racing.

The 34-year-old has seen first-hand the horse’s maturing over recent seasons and agreed: “It’s definitely been a gradual process. Every year he’s gotten better. Before you’d get on him in the paddock and you could feel him tensing up. He’d canter to post and be grinding his teeth. This year he’s been so much more relaxed.

“Even last year, going to post in the Nunthorpe, I had a really good feeling that day, I really thought he’d win and win well.”

The fast-improving Art Power looks to be the main danger in the field for Friday’s Group 1 contest, which is part of the QIPCO British Champions Series. However, if Battaash produces anything like the form of his Goodwood run, no challenger is likely to live with him.

“He’s certainly not getting any slower, Crowley added. “He’s just unbelievable to ride. I’d forgotten what he was like and I went and rode him just before Ascot and I was just grinning all the way home. You forget how special he is. He’s so quick.

“Last time at Goodwood, the fractions we set early were very quick and there’s just not many horses who can live with him over that early part of the race.”